1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical instruments for use during laparoscopic surgery. More particularly, the invention is directed to a surgical tool designed to gently manipulate and lift an organ thereby providing a means for allowing safe organ release from body cavity constraints and then, expedient organ removal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to perform laparoscopic surgery, surgical instruments are inserted through discrete openings in a patient's abdominal cavity eliminating a need for lengthy incisions accompanied by excess patient trauma and surgical complications. Most laparoscopic surgical instruments are designed to grasp tissue in opposing rough surfaced contact jaws terminating in irregular shapes not useful for organ manipulation and having the potential to cause organ perforation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,095, an endoscopic grasping tool has grasping pieces with tip end portions formed into inwardly bent beak like shapes designed to engage each other and grasp a foreign material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,973 teaches a laparoscopic grasping tool with either forceps type jaws or hemostat type jaws, the jaws having serrated contact surfaces for a continuous jaw closure and increased grasping force in order to grasp tissue pedicles and other body structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,741 defines a laparoscopic surgical instrument having pivotal plate like jaws that selectively move toward and away from each other and are used to grasp vessels, tubes or stents during a laparoscopic procedure.
The above described inventions are not designed primarily for organ lifting and, therefore, have serious limitations when organ lifting is a primary concern. Teeth, projections or ridges on grasping surfaces present obvious organ perforation hazards when instrument and organ contact occurs. The focus is on grasping and not on lifting.
The present invention is a laparoscopic surgical instrument designed to assist with laparoscopic surgical removal of organs, more specifically solid organs within a patient's abdominal cavity, in a simple and novel manner. The device has arms that are carefully and precisely extended and manipulated to gently lift, position and hold an organ, such as a spleen, so that necessary surgical procedures regarding the organ can be safely performed.